Quick Takes: News You May Have Missed

The al Qaeda terrorist plot against U.S. and Western targets is a direct result of U.S.-supported efforts currently underway to purge al Qaeda affiliates from the ranks of the Syrian rebels, according to informed Middle Eastern security sources.

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The sources have specific knowledge of the terrorist threat that has prompted a worldwide travel alert and the closure of 22 U.S. embassies.

Those sources said the U.S. has been working with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states to support a U.S.-armed Free Syria Army effort to cleanse al Qaeda affiliates from among the rebel ranks, including al-Nusra and other groups.

For months now the U.S. has reportedly been providing lethal support to the Syrian rebels despite widespread fears the Western weapons could fall into the hands of al Qaeda organizations known to work alongside the Free Syria Army.

Now with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad closing in on the insurgency targeting his regime, U.S. allies in the Gulf and throughout the Middle East are deeply concerned that the freshly armed al Qaeda groups could turn their efforts from Assad to destabilizing the moderate Arab regimes.

To that affect, according to the Middle Eastern security sources, the U.S. has been heavily aiding the Free Syrian Army in its efforts to disarm or eliminate the al Qaeda groups fighting as Syrian rebels.

The Middle Eastern security sources said the current al Qaeda plot is an attempt to dissuade the U.S. from supporting these disarming efforts.

EU Boycott Was Coordinated With U.S.

The European Union’s boycott of Israeli settlements was coordinated with the Obama administration and may be contingent on the Jewish state’s actions during current U.S.-brokered talks with the Palestinians, according to a senior Palestinian negotiator.

Last week, the EU published guidelines that deny EU funds in the form of grants, prizes, and financial instruments from going toward Jewish entities in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, or eastern Jerusalem.

The guidelines further require any future Israeli-EU financial agreements to include a clause stipulating that the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights are not actually part of Israel.

A senior Palestinian negotiator involved with the current Israeli-Palestinian talks told KleinOnline that the EU guidelines were published in full coordination with Secretary of State John Kerry.

The negotiator further claimed that if Israel does not collaborate with the current round of Palestinian talks being brokered by Kerry, the EU financial sanctions could become tougher. The threat has been communicated to Israeli officials, according to the Palestinian negotiator.

Possible further boycotts being considered, the negotiator stated, include an official statement from EU that settlements are illegal; a full financial boycott; and sanctions on all trade, universities, and Jewish entities in the settlements.

Another possibility is an EU dictate requiring special visas for settlers.

On the other hand, if Israel goes along with Kerry’s peace plan, the EU will reconsider its current and future settlement boycott, the Palestinian negotiator stated.

Liberals Working To Bypass Electoral College

The National Popular Vote effort, which could see only 14 states – those with the largest populations – determine the outcome of the next presidential election is fully partnered with a George Soros-funded election group, KleinOnline has found.

The group, the Center for Voting and Democracy, received original seed money in 1997 from the Joyce Foundation, a non-profit that boasted President Obama served on its board at the time of the grant. Obama was a board member from July 1994 until December 2002.

The National Popular Vote, or NPV, is run by individuals with a history of support for the Democratic Party, WND found.

Last week, the Washington Post reported that NPV is “now halfway to its goal of electing future presidents via the popular vote, after Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (D) made his state the latest to sign on.”

The Post story described NPV as a campaign seeking to “get states that comprise a majority of the 538 votes in the Electoral College – 270, to be precise – to agree to award their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote.”

The states will not be required to award their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner until NPV has signed up enough states to garner 270 electoral votes.

Aaron Klein is the Jerusalem bureau chief for Breitbart News. Visit the website daily at www.breitbart.com/jerusalem. He is also host of an investigative radio program on New York's 970 AM Radio on Sundays from 7 to 9 p.m. Eastern. His website is KleinOnline.com.